Privacy and Data Protection Policy

​

We take the privacy and confidentiality of anyone who contacts or uses our services seriously. This policy explains what personal information may be collected, why it is needed, how it is used and stored, and the circumstances in which it may be shared.

 

Information We Collect

​

When you make an enquiry, arrange an appointment or engage in counselling or psychotherapy, we may collect information such as:

• Your name and contact details, including telephone number and email address

• Your date of birth and other basic personal information

• Information provided when making an enquiry or completing an assessment

• Information relating to your emotional and physical wellbeing

• Relevant medical information, including medication where appropriate

• Details of your GP or other healthcare professionals where necessary

• Emergency contact information

• Information relating to risk or safeguarding

• Appointment and attendance information

• Brief clinical or session records

• Payment, invoice and transaction information

We aim to collect only information that is reasonably necessary to provide the service safely, professionally and effectively.

​

How Information Is Collected

​

Most personal information is provided directly by you. This may happen when you:

• Complete an online enquiry or contact form

• Contact us by telephone, email or another communication method

• Attend an initial assessment

• Book an appointment

• Take part in counselling or psychotherapy

• Provide information during the course of your work with a therapist

In some circumstances information may be received from another person or organisation, such as a GP, healthcare professional, employer, insurer, referral service or other organisation that has referred you.

​

Why We Use Personal Information

​

Personal information may be used to:

• Respond to enquiries

• Assess whether the service is appropriate for you

• Arrange and manage appointments

• Provide counselling, psychotherapy or related services

• Communicate with you about your appointments

• Maintain appropriate clinical records

• Support safe and ethical therapeutic practice

• Manage safeguarding or serious risk concerns

• Process payments and maintain financial records

• Meet professional, insurance, regulatory and legal requirements

• Deal with complaints or concerns

• Maintain the security and effective operation of the service

Health and therapy-related information is treated as particularly sensitive information and is handled with additional care.

​

Confidentiality and Sharing Information

​

Information disclosed during counselling or psychotherapy is treated as confidential.

Therapeutic work may be discussed within professional clinical supervision. Supervision is an important part of safe and ethical practice, and identifying information will be avoided wherever reasonably possible.

Personal information will not ordinarily be disclosed to another person or organisation without your knowledge or agreement.

There are, however, circumstances in which information may need to be shared without consent. These may include situations where:

• There is a serious concern about the safety of you or another person

• There is a safeguarding concern involving a child or vulnerable person

• Disclosure is required by law

• A court or other legally authorised body requires information

• Information is required in connection with a serious complaint, legal claim or professional investigation

Where appropriate and possible, these circumstances will be discussed with you before information is disclosed.

Relevant information may also be shared with healthcare professionals, such as a GP, where you have agreed to this or where there is a sufficiently serious safety concern.

Only information that is necessary and relevant to the particular situation will normally be shared.

​

Service Providers

 

Some information may be processed through trusted third-party services used for functions such as:

• Appointment administration

• Email and electronic communications

• Secure record keeping

• Website hosting

• Online therapy

• Payment processing

• Accounting and administration

Where external providers process personal information, appropriate steps are taken to ensure information is handled securely and in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.

Full debit or credit card details are not retained as part of therapy records.

Some technology providers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where this occurs, appropriate safeguards will be used where required by data protection legislation.
 

How Information Is Stored

Reasonable technical and organisational safeguards are used to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure.

Depending on the type of information involved, these safeguards may include:

• Password-protected electronic systems

• Restricted access to clinical information

• Secure devices and accounts

• Secure storage of paper documentation

• Confidentiality procedures

• Appropriate deletion and disposal of records

Access to personal information is limited to individuals who have a legitimate reason to use it.
 

Clinical Records

Therapists may keep brief records relating to assessments, appointments and therapeutic sessions.

Clinical records are intended to contain information relevant to the provision of therapy and are not intended to be a complete transcript of counselling sessions.

Records are handled confidentially and stored separately or securely wherever reasonably practicable.
 

How Long Information Is Kept

Personal information is not kept indefinitely.

Adult counselling and therapy records will normally be retained for a defined period following the end of contact and then securely deleted or destroyed when they are no longer required.

Records relating to children and young people may need to be retained for a longer period because of legal, safeguarding, professional or insurance requirements.

Financial and administrative records may also need to be retained for periods required by taxation, accounting or other legislation.

Information may occasionally need to be retained for longer where there is a complaint, legal issue, safeguarding concern or other legitimate reason for doing so.

When information reaches the end of its required retention period, electronic records will be securely deleted and paper records will be confidentially destroyed.
 

Website Information and Cookies

When you use the website, limited technical information may be collected automatically.

Cookies and similar technologies may be used to help the website function correctly and to understand how visitors use the site. This can include information about pages visited, general website traffic and how people interact with the website.

Analytics information is generally used to improve the website and understand how it is being used rather than to identify individual visitors.

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings, although doing so may affect the operation of some parts of the website.

Your Rights

UK data protection legislation provides individuals with a number of rights regarding their personal information.

Depending on the circumstances, these can include the right to:

• Ask what personal information is held about you

• Request a copy of your information

• Ask for inaccurate information to be corrected

• Ask for information to be deleted in certain circumstances

• Request that the use of your information is restricted

• Object to certain ways in which information is being used

• Withdraw consent where consent is being relied upon

• Request transfer of certain information where applicable

Some of these rights are subject to legal limitations. For example, information may sometimes need to be retained because of legal, safeguarding, insurance or professional obligations.

Requests concerning personal information will be dealt with as promptly as reasonably possible and within the timescales required by data protection law.
 

Providing Personal Information

You are not generally under a legal obligation to provide personal information simply because you make an enquiry.

However, certain information is necessary in order to assess your needs and provide counselling or psychotherapy safely. If essential information cannot be provided, it may not be possible to offer or continue the service.
 

Automated Decision-Making

Personal information is not used to make automated decisions about whether someone can receive counselling or psychotherapy, and individuals are not subject to automated profiling as part of the therapeutic service.

Concerns About Your Information

If you have concerns about the collection, storage, use or disclosure of your personal information, you are encouraged to raise these so that the matter can be considered and, wherever possible, resolved.

You also have the right to raise concerns about the handling of personal information with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator responsible for data protection.